War Dance
by KarasuKimi
Summary: Itachi Uchiha was a man of perfection but leaving Sasuke alive was a mistake. However, it seems Itachi made more than just one mistake and to protect his precious imperfection he preaches deceit. “Itachi-sama, who killed our clan?” Ignorance is bliss.
1. Lambs to the Slaughter

**Author's Note:** What is this, you say? This is the result of a dark mood I'm in. As for my other stories well "MOAP" is the only one I have interest in writing at the moment. As for this, well...it's summer and another short fic won't kill me...I hope. _Future chapters won't be long._

_**Warning:**_ Fic is dark because I'm in a baaad mood.

_Pairing:_ Itachi/Kagome and eventual Sasuke/Kagome

* * *

_I stalk them like prey_

_My claws are drenched with murder_

_You scream like a lamb_

* * *

He couldn't breathe.

Not as he grasped the man's neck. His fellow clansman's eyes bulged like a frightened rabbit who was about to have its neck snapped. He was the predator here, a harbinger of death; as this pathetic vermin was caught in his claws. Which was true in a sense, he mused darkly, noting how cords of tendon and muscle seemingly surfaced as he got more and more desperate.

Dull nails scratched piteously against his wrists.

With a deft flick of the wrist-the man's neck was snapped.

Another life ended.

Another sin to be punished.

Another body to be counted.

He let out a shaky breath.

Sasuke was never going to forgive him.

He stared at the dark floorboards remembering how he used to walk among his fellow kinsmen with adoration and respect.

His mind jolted.

He had a mission, he reminded himself as he walked through the household. His footfalls held no sound, silent as death.

The children lay motionless in their beds.

He had poisoned most of them.

The last bit of mercy he would be allowed to spare; even it was to be viewed as cruel.

He exited the building and moved onto the next.

A smaller house it was. The dwelling was quaint with the symbol of the now endangered clan. He entered.

He was silent.

"Itachi!" Screeched a woman.

A distant cousin she was.

He forgot her name and knew very little about her when she died. But he did notice how very intolerant to pain she was when his blade impaled her and how very frail her body was when her ribs snapped. He threw her body onto the floor with so much force it bounced slightly, making the thud sound sickening as the corpse landed- limbs sprawling, eyes dead and life forcefully taken.

His heart was beating rapidly.

"Your progress is disappointing."

Itachi's eyes locked with another set of Mangekyo. The dark enigmatic figure with vermillion eyes was staring back at him. They glowed in the black.

"You left your brother alive." Madara stated.

Itachi said nothing as he walked past the Uchiha leaning in the doorway. The eclipsed moon's scarlet rays slanted through the window, making the room bleed.

Madara spoke the truth; his brother was unconscious and beaten- but alive.

After Sasuke saw the corpses of the man and woman who sired them, he fumbled for a reason as too why Itachi stood over their parent's bodies. Itachi tormented his brother to say the least and formulated a traumatic way of telling the truth to Sasuke. Itachi provided his brother with necessary information for power, knowing that he would not forget this night and then proceeded to complete the mental scarring; leaving Sasuke unconscious from shock or injury-Itachi didn't know.

He seemed to not know a lot of things anymore.

Now, he stalked about the desecrated compound like a predator picking up any stragglers of his pathetic and terrified prey.

Madara trailed indistinctly as he moved throughout the buildings, checking over corpses for pulses and shadows for movement. His eyes searched madly for any signs of life so that he may crush it.

Precious time was being spent as he checked every inch of the compound.

It was then he stopped dead in his tracks.

A muffled cry.

He was already on the prowl.

He followed the faint sound to a small manor.

_Shisui…_

His closest friend's residence lay untouched by the plague of murder he had brought down onto his clan.

He entered.

It seemed as if the wind stilled and the night silent, as he walked through the halls. It was then he heard it, the stifled cry.

He stalked, approaching the call of his next victim.

At the end of the hall lay a room.

He swung the door open; it creaked eerily silencing the crying. His steps were calculated as he pursued the hiding child.

"Itachi-sama?"

It was faint, a personal whisper that questioned his appearance.

Itachi opened the closet furiously revealing a cowering child, shivering in cold fear he knelt down looking at the girl's forcefully shut eyes as she shook.

She opened her eyes suddenly.

It was then it all came back.

The younger sibling of his dearest friend, he remembered the timid and frail girl Shisui used to coddle over. Shisui's parents had been dead for three years now leaving Shisui to care for his imouto and now he was gone. Leaving her to the care of the clan and now they were gone.

All because of him.

"Itachi-sama!" She exclaimed suddenly-but not with fear but rather relief as she tackled him in a desperate embrace.

He stiffened as the girl sobbed. His hands gripped her tiny shoulders and pulled her back, making her look at him.

Ridiculous blue eyes dripped and leaked with frightened tears as the girl bit her lip. "I-I heard screams and yelling and…and …I wish Nii-san w-was here." She let out a wail that would surely wake the dead…

Itachi prayed that it didn't.

For that might be a bit redundant.

"Kagome." He spoke her name dispassionately, knocking her out of her hysteria.

She wiped away her tears from her swollen eyes. "I-I'm scared I-Itachi-sama."

The girl was only four from what he could remember, an anomaly she was, as her eyes were rare especially for an Uchiha. It was considered a good omen or good luck for the current generation. He could have laughed at the irony but at the moment the girl was crying and Madara was watching him.

"Did you kill the bad nin Itachi-sama?"

He paused his thoughts.

"Because I don't hear screaming anymore."

He smiled slightly at the girl's ignorance.

"Hai. I did." He said slowly.

Her eyes no longer wide, but now half lidded, looked at him with an appreciative light as a small smile became evident on her lips. Her head bobbed, she was very tired. "Is there anyone else alive?"

"Iie. They are all dead."

"Arigato Itachi-sama." She whispered sleepily as her eyes closed.

"Why?" He asked quietly.

"Because you saved me." She said faintly just as her thick lashes kissed her cheeks and she went limp in his grasp.

He let her small frame rest against his chest as he exhaled sharply.

With one arm wrapped around her small body and the other raised with a kunai in hand; Itachi poised the blade at the girl's neck. The metal glinted red from the moon's murderous glow; seemingly showing him that it's blade was already stained.

Silently and skillfully he slowly brought the weapon down to the base of her skull and then-

"Wait Itachi."

Itachi's eyes flittered sharply to meet Madara's. The color of blood staining both.

Itachi's gaze studied Madara as the man spoke again.

Madara chuckled richly from behind his grotesque mask. "What is so puzzling to you Itachi?"

"Why do you wish me to steady my blade?"

Madara chuckled darkly once more.

"That is because the Uchiha Clan will need to rebuild itself."

* * *

**Author's Note:** War Dance- a stupid thing weasels do in order to confuse their prey. Kagome= current Uchiha matriarch at the age of 4. Yay! I have a twisted way of writing. Okay now let me know if you want me to continue or trash- either is fine by me. I'm really not attatched to emotionally fueled fics. ~KK

_Oh and excuse the horrifyingly morbid haiku up top! I know I just butchered the whole art form. _


	2. The Useless and The Beautiful

**Author's Note:** Memoirs of a Prodigy (MOAP) is going good, I was just busy writing this. SO if you read both stories then it means I love you! SO go on and read and leave a nice review. It won't hurt you! And I don't bite…hard :P

_**Info: **__Story follows the manga/anime so its canon!_

_Itachi- 13, Kagome- 4, Sasuke- 8_

Itoko- cousin

Kusa- Grass

Ame- Rain

Ano-Umm

* * *

_My lies will blind you_

_So that you only see me_

_Though my eyes still bleed_

* * *

"Bi-Juu?" She struggled to pronounce the foreign term.

He nodded languidly. His eyes scanning the inhabitants of the dark and dank tea house as he pushed his cup towards the girl. Her hands clasp onto his, they were such frail and tiny things. Pudgy cold hands clutch onto the warm cup of tea, eagerly bringing it close and gulping it down furiously.

"They killed our clan, Itachi-sama?" Kagome asked innocently as she licked her lips. Her blue eyes glistening as her voice wavered.

Itachi eyed the girl; her shimmering eyes stared up at him so trustingly. He had covered her in his undercover ANBU trench cloak. It's hood drooping past, obscuring her entire face unless being looked at directly. Her hands stuck out of the unzipped front, clutching to the empty cup.

"Hai, they did." He said gently. "But not directly."

She squinted at him trying to comprehend his words…

"Bijuu hide themselves in hosts known as Jinchuuriki." He had to be as simplistic as possible.

"So a…Jinchoo-"

"The Kyuubi Jinchuuriki hid itself within a small boy."

Her glistening eyes widened.

"Our village trusted a demon."

"But why?!" She exclaimed.

Itachi raised a hand, a gesture to silence her. "Our village believed that he was just a child…merely a harmless child."

"But he killed our clan…" She whispered shakily.

"Aa, he did." Itachi agreed darkly. "However, that was not his only crime."

"What…What was it?"

"He placed the blame of his crimes on another, further deceiving our village."

"Who?" Kagome asked breathlessly, her hands grasping the dark wooden table.

Itachi paused for a long moment his dark eyes rested on the small useless child.

"Me." He said simply, his words seeping in slowly.

Her eyes widened. "W-Why?

"I was the only one to survive." He said quickly as his eyes flickered over to a rough looking group sitting in the corner of the dank tea house.

"Mm… Itachi-sama?"

"Hm?" His eyes locked onto the small girl who was practically swimming in his hooded ANBU cloak.

"I survived too." Kagome said timidly.

"Aa… you did." Itachi corrected lightly. His closed his eyes as if he struggled to remember something that was desperately important. "As did Sasuke."

"Sasuke-kun is still alive?" Kagome's eyes bugged as her voice grew to a high pitch. "Is he really Itachi-sama?"

He spoke after a moment, his eyes studying the girl. "Hai, though Konoha lies to him. Claiming I am responsible for our Clan's massacre."

"But you didn't do it Itachi-sama!" She squeaked angrily. "There is no way you would have killed our family!" She stood on the chair as if she was desperate to proclaim his innocence.

"Family?" He questioned, his eyes narrowing at the small girl.

Kagome felt the shift in the tide of the conversation; she felt the dark calm right before the furious storm. The discussion had turned into something that made Itachi's eyes sharpen and his irises meld into deep carmine.

His eyes stared down at her, his red eyes glowing in the dim light. "A clan…is no family."

"Ano… But we have no Clan no more Itachi-sama, so… once we get Sasuke-kun back then we can all be a family, right?" She suggested timidly.

Itachi closed his eyes, simply nodded and ignored the girl staring at him so beautifully naïve.

For he had much more important things to think about.

XxX

"Itachi-sama!" She exclaimed to the dark figure walking several yards ahead. Iridescent blue eyes looked over her quiet and reserved cousin.

Itachi had always been that way to her, except he was much more polite before. Now, he seemed to be holding back something very dark. He seemed…more emotional maybe?

Kagome shook her head, knowing that was definitely not the right way to put it. She couldn't quite figure out what it was yet, but it wasn't good, because Itachi didn't sleep at night either.

He just watched the sky and every time she would ask why he wasn't tired, he'd tell her to go back to sleep. They'd been sleeping outside lately, sometimes during the day.

It made her tired but Itachi said it was necessary because their village wanted them dead and they had to keep moving. She noticed how they never traveled on paths and sometimes would travel in circles. That made her even more tired and sometimes Itachi had to carry her. He had only done this a few times, telling her to be quiet as he ran and he was so fast that she couldn't see anything clearly.

They hadn't fought anyone yet and when she asked why, Itachi had said there was no need. Kagome had a feeling he had done something really bad to ensure this.

Now, they were in an unfamiliar land , but Itachi seemed calmer like he just gotten over a major milestone. It only made her wonder what was his next…

And so he walked ahead in the rain.

Kagome had always loved the rain, but this rain…

Made her feel weird, it tingled her skin and made her feel exposed, like someone was watching her.

Itachi hadn't spoken to her since they had stopped by the teahouse and that was three days ago making today a week since the demon fox killed her whole family and stole Sasuke away from her and Itachi.

Her hand curled up into a tiny fist. Itachi hadn't said where they were going but she was most definitely sure it was somewhere safe and someplace where Itachi could plan to get revenge.

At least that is what she hoped.

She wanted revenge, her brother had been killed, her whole family massacred, her cousin imprisoned while she and Itachi were being hunted like animals.

A droplet of water slid down her ashen cheek, she sniffed.

"Itachi-sama!" She called again, she couldn't walk anymore.

He kept on walking his languid gait.

And now Itachi was mad at her!

Her knees gave out, she was so tired.

"I-Ita…chi…" She whispered hoarsely as she fell back, mud matted itself in her long raven colored hair and water splashed against her cheek as it soaked through Itachi's cloak and her dirty yukata.

She rolled on her side, she couldn't walk anymore and Itachi didn't seem to notice that she had just collapsed.

She reached out a small hand, achingly grasping at the blurring image of her cousin but it was so intangible, so she simply watched as he left her in the mud and rain.

Her eyes closed and at that moment, she felt warm finger snake around her ribcage and grip under her arms. The strong fingers lifted her small form onto something solid and warm.

Kagome rested her head on Itachi's shoulders and watched as the world bobbed with his silent but strong steps. She wrapped her arms around his neck and sighed contently.

"Mm…Arigato for not leaving me Itachi-sama." Her muffled voice reached his ears.

Itachi said nothing but continued to carry the emotionally and physically drained child in his arms.

Kagome felt Itachi's heart beat next her chest, the resonating and strong beat pounded alongside her meek and frantic one.

Itachi was not heartless as some would say. No, if anything, he had the biggest heart and Kagome smiled slightly.

It made her sad to see the once nice Itachi no longer smile.

He had such a wonderful smile, especially when he would see Sasuke. Then Itachi would always be so nice and even smile at her. Her brother had always been very protective over her though, and he didn't like it when Itachi smiled at her, but she liked it. She liked Itachi very much and so did her brother; but Shisui didn't like Itachi being around her.

Shisui didn't even like Sasuke being around her, probably more than Itachi.

She stuck out her bottom lip and furrowed her brows. "Nii-san was always so mean to Sasuke-kun." She muttered in a pouty mood.

She felt Itachi tilt his head at her words. "Shisui…" He spoke her brother's name with a tender hollowness. "…cared for you very much."

"…I miss him." Kagome said in muffled words. "D-Do…you?"

Itachi walked, his footfalls glided over the soaked mud and puddles. This land was unfamiliar to her, it always rained.

He let out a shaky breath as the rain intensified. "Aa."

The demon had killed her brother, right before he could have warned their clan.

Kagome couldn't understand it.

Their village believed a demon.

A horrid monster that decimated her family into something that was so small now…

A demon that killed everyone close to her, reducing her family to but a remnant of something that was once beautiful.

Her beautiful beautiful clan…now gone, reduced to what she could only grasp with her tiny hands.

She gripped Itachi's shirt. It hurt so much, it felt like claws ripping through her chest, tearing apart her heart into nothing but bitter red shreds. The monster roared through her lungs, making her want to scream.

She hated this monster in her.

This monster hated her.

It consumed her soul into the dark abyss of its never ending want.

This monster wanted something, it wanted something…

It wanted revenge.

"I…" She began to speak, but she wanted to scream.

Itachi stilled his steps.

They stood in the rain.

A lone dark figure stood, his arms held something shrouded in black.

Itachi held her there, until she could speak.

But she couldn't.

It hurt.

The monster's claws, scratched at her throat making it ache. There was nothing to say…

Not yet.

She couldn't.

Not yet.

"Sometimes…" Itachi spoke, like he once did before. She felt his smooth voice resonate through his chest as it resounded through her. "…there are terrible emotions that will surface, ones that are only brought about when terrible things happen." It was like warm velvet, numbing the pain as it calmed the _monster_. "These emotions are what some will succumb to or…use."

"I…don't…" She whispered so softly, not even she could hear.

"Use the emotion, do not succumb to it." He said once more, the velvet gone, replaced by ice cold steel that chilled her and silenced any other thought. "Nurture it and let it blossom. Then one day, harness it."

She lay silent.

"Though for now…" It was warm again. "Let it be."

_Let it be…_

She felt something settle, the monster stilled and lay dormant, for now…

For she knew one day, it would awaken, the monster would rise and the want would be satiated.

Its want, its hunger, its thirst for vengeance would be sated.

But for now, she would grasp onto something that was once beautiful and proud and strong.

For they were but a remnant, a forlorn vestige of something that was once magnificent.

That is what they were and it hurt…

She closed her eyes even tighter but the tears still fell.

She held her breath but the sobs still escaped her lips.

She tightened her hold on Itachi's neck but it still wasn't her brother.

"I…"

Itachi felt the hot tears, the muffled cries and the tightened embrace. He simply stood in the rain as the girl clung to him.

"I…hate..." She choked out weakly.

Kagome found herself placed on the ground, her feet making a squish as they came onto the soaked earth.

Itachi looked at the girl, her eyes bright red as the pupils burned with such a vibrant blue that it seemed comical. Her cheeks were stained, streaked red and swollen as black hair matted itself to her flushed skin.

"Do not succumb to hatred."

Itachi crouching before her, his eyes dark as the rain slid down his cheeks, resembling something he would shed.

"Harness it."

A tiny hand wiped away a hot tear, only to have it replaced.

"I will, Itachi-sama." She said strongly meek.

She sniffed as he stood, his cold stare looking down on her.

Kagome grabbed his hand; his long fingers snaked around her tiny palm, her grip was tight and frantic.

They walked in silence, as Kagome plodded through the puddles and Itachi glided over the wet earth like a dark ghost.

So this is what he was left with…

He stared blankly as water slid down his face and past his lips. The rain was never ending, just a blank grey wall that obscured his vision…

His eyes snapped down to the girl.

She was giggling.

Itachi heard a splash which was followed by the splatter of water against his legs.

She pulled the dragging fabric up from the ground and as her tiny hand grasped the charcoal fabric, she jumped into another puddle. The water splashed her already soaked sandals and damp yukata.

"We are all that is left Itachi-sama." She said suddenly, her cloaked head bobbing as she walked hurriedly along side him. "So that means, we are the only ones who can care for one another…we are the only ones who can love each other."

Itachi still walked stoically in the rain, his eyes adverted as the girl went on her prattle.

"Because there is nobody else, nobody else loves us…and when we get Sasuke-kun back, we will be a family." She stated firmly. "Not a clan."

Itachi felt her hand grip tightly around his fingers.

"But first we must…kill Kyuubi." She muttered darkly.

He raised a brow at her deathly mood.

"And then rescue Sasuke." Her firm but meek tone made her declarations of vengeance seem foolish. But this girl of but four years, held hate and for now that hate was all that she needed.

"But we must stick together Itachi-sama, we must always remember that we are Uchiha." Kagome stopped and looked up at him, the rain soaking her long lashes that plastered against her cheek. "Promise?"

He stared down at the girl with a half lidded bored gaze.

"Promise we'll stick together? We are alone without each other." She stared up at him hopingly.

He stared at the girl.

The cloaked small face looked at him with a serious expression. Her pink lips set in a firm line and her once glistening eyes like ice.

This girl…this pathetic weak frail thing was it…

There was no one else…

The only one that cared for him stood three feet tall.

"I will…but you must promise me something in return."

"What would that be?" She asked hurriedly.

His dispassionate gaze stared blankly at her as his even voice "Never listen to Madara."

"Ma-da-ra?"

"Aa, someone you must be cautious of."

"Kay!" Her eyes suddenly narrowed. "Will you promise as well? Promise you'll never leave."

He stared at her for a long while, his eyes searching for something. "…alright."

"Good!" She exclaimed, feeling triumphant as she grasped Itachi's hand and continued walking.

The mud squished beneath her feet as she marched forward.

She smiled into the cold rain, feeling lighter now.

She opened her mouth and let the words flow from her tongue.

"…_kaze…kaze wa tomari kotoba wa yasashii… maboroshi…"_

Itachi's eyes watched as the girl eerily sang a sweet but ever so haunting tune.

" …_kumo wa yabure ashita wa tooku no koe…"_

She was like a torn and innocent soul that had placed itself directly in his life.

Just a useless girl and a lonely boy.

One might call it fate.

"…_tsuki ga yureru kagami ni furueta kokoro…"_

But Itachi was no man for chance or destiny.

Things happened.

There was simply no explanation at times.

"…hoshi ga nagare koboreta yawarakai namida…"

The girl smiled as she sang, squeezing his hand with a grin she plodded happily through the mud and rain. Such a foolish and fragile thing she was.

That is what he was left with…

A useless girl.

"…_suteki da ne…"_

She nuzzled a cheek against his wrist. She was but an indulgence of the selfishness known as emotion.

"…_futari te wo tori aruketa nara…"_

Truly useless for a shinobi of his caliber.

"…ikitai yo…" Kagome giggled as her beaming blue eyes stared straight through him.

But then again, usefulness was something Itachi had grown very tired of.

XxX

"Our new member has arrived."

He was like a ghost.

A man who was stained and tainted…

A man who was perfection…

A man who was able to do breech boundaries in order to maintain power.

The perfect host…

Orochimaru watched with rapacious amber eyes as the Uchiha prodigy entered the shrine.

The man moved silently, his steps were slow as he locked eyes with the Sannin. His red irises emblazoned with the familiar but deadly tomoe. The Sannin eyes slid down the Uchiha's form and saw a little form swaddled in what seemed to be a cloak being held in the Uchiha's grasp.

"Ita-chi Uchi-ha." He said throatily.

Beady eyes locked onto the small form in the teenager's grasp. "What's this?"

Itachi stood still; the cloak Kagome had been wearing was soaked and dripped against the wood. They were on the border of Ame and Kusa, a small shrine lay on the border that was completely obscured by thick forests.

That is where _they_ met.

Kisame grunted. "What is that?" His eyes landed on the dripping thing that the Uchiha was holding onto.

Kagome mewled in her sleep, nudging her face into Itachi's neck.

"Is that a kid?" Kisame asked suddenly.

Pein raised a hand, a silencing gesture to his subordinate.

"The child will remain in Akatsuki, unharmed."

The threat was clear but it was unneeded due to the Uchiha's burning Sharingan.

XxX

A blanket of black and red clouds lay on top of her sleeping form.

Her breaths were rhythmic and short.

Itachi's eyes became glazed over as the moon took up his view of the stars.

Kagome lay safe on a small futon as Itachi draped himself over the windowsill like a raven surveying its nest. The moon crept across the dark blotted sky, when it reached its highest peak a voice resonated from the corner of the room.

A glowing red eye behind a grotesque mask stared disturbingly at Itachi.

"Your itoko seems exhausted, Itachi."

Itachi said nothing as Madara glided over and stood over the obliviously sleeping girl.

A gloved hand pulled a lock of hair away from her ashen face and tucked it behind her ear. "You should be more mindful of your actions Itachi." Madara's eye locked onto Itachi's impassive form, for he simply looked out the window as the moon enshrouded him. "The girl is... delicate."

Itachi said nothing.

"What have you told her?" Madara questioned darkly.

An owl could be heard off in the distance. "Nothing that concerns you." Itachi brushed him off.

Madara chuckled darkly. "Just keep her alive, Itachi." And then he was gone.

Itachi let out a breath.

"That may be…difficult."

* * *

_The wind, like a heart that swam in the accumulated words_

_The clouds, a voice that was shot into the holding future_

_The moon, a shaking heart in an unsteady mirror_

_The stars, gentle tears in an overflowing stream_

_Isn't it beautiful_

_To walk together in each others hands_

_I do so want to go_

* * *

**Author's Note:** Well I love all your reviews, but I'll be really surprised if all of you review again. Seriously.

Thank You: kazukarin, HyuugaPrincess15, Kenjo, 4get me not, XxHaku-Spirited-Away-RoseXxXx, merlyn1382, LuLuCrazeD, Chelly18, namiidragon, Animealover, Azalie-Kauriu, Fyfy, Shiroi no Yume, librianangel, bluudyrabbitofportland, Kage Hasu, Azera-v, JessicaAnnCowley, Passionate Crow Rat, Gloriana the Younger, Serenity digo19, eloquent dreams, aislin94, Lovelywitch, and sesskagthebest! I love you all!


	3. Dead Men Don't Have Futures

_**Author's Note:** MOAP is going good...too good in fact...I've been meaning to get this up earlier...but I was busy writing the other story...bleh! If you haven't go read 'Memoirs of a Prodigy' and review...and if you already have and are reading this...then that means I love you! _

**_Warning:_** Wee gore! Creepiness! (If you don't like yucky stuff **don't read** the _italics_, kay? Can't really get past the creepiness though...:D)

* * *

_I see you dreaming_

_The nightmares have just begun_

_No, they will not stop_

* * *

"She is sick."

A gloved hand stroked the vermillion curl of a cloud.

The tender caress continued across the obsidian sky of the cloak until the cloth ended and was met with a small and slender neck.

Madara lifted his hand off the child's sleeping form. "This is what happens… when you act carelessly." The masked man's voice rumbled through out the expanse of the dark room.

Itachi stared blankly at the dark forest that encumbered the shrine on the border of Grass and Rain. His eyes, focused in on the wooded area with red irises that could see into the night. The ferns matted the forest floor, the moss plastered itself on every surface and the trees grew immensely with their gnarled roots and thick uplifting boughs.

Drips could be heard, sliding off the slick surface of the roof and landing into the muddied soil. It rained often here.

It was… unnerving how far Pein's jutsu truly reached.

"You and Kisame will depart for Ame at dawn."

Itachi's scarlet eyes flicked over to Kagome's sleeping form.

Madara chuckled richly. "She will be in the charge of Konan."

Itachi's gaze left the elder Uchiha's looming form.

"This is the consequence of your actions." Madara informed, as he twirled a long lock of ebony. "She is not fit for travel due to your carelessness…"

Ah, that's right. Madara was still fuming about how quickly he had evacuated Hi no Kuni and how far he had pushed the small girl.

And now, she was unfit for travel. She was sickly, her body was weak and now he would have to go Ame to complete the initiation process with his partner without her.

Madara was now exacting his reproach upon him by separating the tiny girl from him.

He ran a hand through his damp bangs as his eyes became unfocused orbs of red.

She would have slowed him down anyways.

"I will reconvene with you in Ame, Itachi." Madara's voice was just sound with no conduit.

Itachi felt his lungs expel a shaky breath as he closed his eyes.

"_We are all that is left Itachi-sama."_

That they were.

"_So that means, we are the only ones who can care for one another…we are the only ones who can love each other."_

Strange words for someone so young.

He found himself looming over her restless form, a hand reached out, its long fingers dragging across pallid cheek and ebony tresses. She mewled in her sleep at his caress. He felt her fever, her fluttering of her eyes, her rasping breaths and her faint heart beat.

"_Will you promise as well? Promise you'll never leave."_

He brought the Akatsuki cloak up on her exposed shoulder and looked to the morning's light; it crested on the horizon with a red glow that stained the earth.

He was never one to keep promises.

XxX

She awoke with a ragged cough.

Her lungs distended quickly before deflating with rasped crackling breaths.

She shook with a cold sweat as she sat up more erectly.

"Drink this." A feminine interjected as a bowl of steaming liquid was jutted into her line of vision; her eyes lingered on the willowy fingers that adorned black lacquered nails.

Kagome's small hands grasped onto the bowl and gulped down the warm contents. She didn't taste anything but it alleviated her aching throat.

Kagome set down the bowl on her cloaked lap as she rubbed her eyes awake.

Shimmering orbs of blue met dull gray.

The woman sitting at her bedside was adorned with the same cloak that was draped over her, except hers was much slimmer and formfitting.

Kagome snaked her small arms through the sleeves of the clouded cloak. "W-Where is…Itachi-sama?" She asked timidly.

"He's gone." Her voice was cold.

Kagome gasped and already her vision blurred as her eyes became misted. "B-But…he promised." Her voice deflated as a few droplets slid down her cheeks. "He promised he wouldn't leave!" She yelled at the woman.

Sighing, Konan placed a strand of indigo behind her ear and pushed the child back down onto the futon.

Kagome stared at the woman hovering over her; her brilliant blue hair didn't seem odd to her nor did her pierced lip but rather the intricate floral that adorned her cerulean tresses.

Kagome outstretched a small hand-

"Take it." And the origami flower was shoved into her palm.

She stroked a paper petal, her stubbed finger lingering on the edge for but a moment until-

A thick red droplet slid down her digit and wrist.

"You haven't even gotten out of bed yet and you are already bleeding…" Konan muttered as she whipped the origami out of the girl's hand and placed it on the nightstand. "You are such a breakable thing."

Kagome wrinkled her nose. "No I'm not." She informed the blue haired woman with a scowl. "Aniki taught me Gōkakyu no Jutsu-"

"Get some rest, kid." Konan instructed as she laid the child back down.

Kagome huffed as she turned away from the annoying woman. "Itachi-sama better come back." She muttered tersely.

Konan just brought the Akatsuki cloak up on the girl, wondering why this single girl's life had been spared over hundreds of others…

XxX

"Why aren't you wearing your cloak?"

Itachi walked alongside his hulking partner as the defected Kiri-nin shifted his great sword in the awkward silence.

After a moment, Itachi spoke. His smooth voice was distant and cold. "It is needed elsewhere."

"Do you mean that kid you brought?" Kisame's beady eyes drifted past his newly endowed partner. "I get it. You want her to know that you'll be back." Kisame scoffed.

Itachi's bloodied irises flicked over to his partner.

"Don't get your panties in a twist, kid." Kisame backed off; there was something unstable about those eyes… "I just don't see why you're so attached." He scratched a gilled cheek. "If I were you I'd slit her throat to save both of us trouble."

"Kisame…" Itachi spoke his partner's name with an indifferent intonation. "…when you leave this world. Who will mourn your death?"

The blue skinned swordsmen scratched the back of his neck in thought until he shot Itachi a vicious smile. "Hmph…no one." He responded as if it were but a fact. "Why? You think someone will mourn yours?" The absconded Kiri-nin laughed heartily at this, with a fanged mouth agape. "Lucky you." He sneered.

Itachi kept on walking, his feet gliding over the puddles with not so much as a ripple.

"Well revel in it now…" Kisame began as he shot a glance upward, to the grey undulating sky. "For it still doesn't change one thing…"

Itachi's eyes slid over; pools of scarlet swirled with tomoe as they drank in the image of the shark.

_And that is…_

"... that the dead are still dead."

XxX

"What's your name?" Kagome asked innocently as she kicked the air and her feet dangled off the side of the futon.

She was going stir crazy in here!

The blue haired woman set down the tray, she had just brought in, on top of the nightstand. The sparse tableware shook precariously as she stood over the small Uchiha.

"Konan."

Kagome wrinkled her nose but instantly dispelled her reaction. "Oh." She placed a small finger on her pink lips as her large eyes looked up in thought. "What about Aoi?" She suggested sincerely.

Konan stared blankly at the girl.

"Hana?"

Konan sighed.

"Hisoka?"

"Eat." She pointed to the steaming bowl of broth.

Kagome blinked, taken back a bit at her caretaker's brusqueness.

"If you don't eat…" Konan drawled. "…then Itachi won't be back tomorrow."

The bowl was already empty.

Kagome smiled a cheeky dimpled grin as she patted her tummy.

Konan's grey orbs locked onto the timid girl. She was practically swimming in the Akatsuki cloak in which she refused to part with.

"You need a bath." Konan remarked as she eyed the dirty yukata that Kagome wore.

"I do?"

Konan nodded.

"Do I have to?"

Konan nodded.

Kagome's brow furrowed for moment, as if deliberating her options before saying-

"Can I have bubbles?"

Konan _nodded._

Kagome scurried to the bathroom with an excited squeal.

XxX

"Ko-chan…" Kagome called, her dripping form swaddled in a towel and peering into the dark expanse of the room.

The room was empty and even though it was midday, her room was still dark. "Nana-chan?" She tried again; maybe Konan didn't like her new nickname?

The little girl scurried over to the futon in the corner of the room. Relieved to see the Akatsuki cloak was still there, Kagome snuggled her damp face into it only to find that another set of clothes was lain out.

She eyed the small yukata, it was light and plainly colored with a soft damask and the obi was a washed out scarlet with white petals wafting across the silk in a frozen wind.

Shrugging, she dressed quickly but not without trouble concerning her obi. Kagome found the yukata was much more breathable than her damp one, which Konan had quickly discarded once Kagome had been submersed in bubbles.

She remembered how Konan instructed her to do one thing-

_Don't leave the room…_

Kagome opened the closed shutters of a large window; light spilled eagerly into the dark room and the small Uchiha squinted as her eyes ached.

Letting her eyes adjust, Kagome saddled herself on the stone windowsill; she didn't know where they were, who the people in cloaks were, what they wanted, when Itachi was coming back or why she was stuck here alone?

Kagome huffed and crossed her small arms. Questions raced through her mind, her eyes glanced about the area where she was located.

Her brother had always taught her to gather information, whether it be on people or places-

Knowledge was just as much as a shinobi's weapon as a kunai.

Her chest ached at the thought of her brother…

She grasped the soft fabric of the yukata desperately, feeling the monster inside her chest scratch at her ribs…

Roaring for vengeance, gnawing at the last shreds of her heart and preying on the fragile thoughts that stayed in the recesses of her mind.

_Let it be…_

Again the terrible thing inside of her little body settled into its untimely hibernation. She pushed it down, forcing the beast to settle so that one day…

She would nurture it-

And let it blossom.

For one day she would have her revenge, she would have her hatred be unleashed onto Konoha for all that they did to her, to her brother, to her Clan, to_ her_ Itachi…

She gasped and then stared out the window distantly; Itachi was hers in a sense.

She felt something jump inside her, like a pressure that compressed her lungs and accelerated her heart so that all she wanted to do was release it in an excited squeal…

But she didn't.

For Itachi was much more to her than some crush that a lot girls had on him back in Konoha.

It was something…

She furrowed her brows and pouted her pink lips in frustration. She couldn't quite describe it!

Crossing her arms, Kagome surmised that whatever she felt towards Itachi was much…

"Stronger." She spoke softly and then nodded, that's right, she felt something stronger for Itachi now. It was almost as if she-

"I can make you that."

Kagome whipped her entire body around until she came face to face with a cloaked man.

"Who are you?" She demanded, she didn't mean to be rude but it was rude to sneak up on people in the first place.

The man smiled as his golden slit eyes slid over her slowly and wickedly. "What is your name?" He asked in hissed whisper.

"I just asked-"

"Believe me girl; you are no position to be demanding." His voice was deeper but rasped slightly.

"Kagome." She muttered, feeling as if this man would kill her without a second thought.

"Ah…Kagome-chan." His tongue rolled over her name and she cringed as he twisted her seemingly innocent name. "I can make you stronger…" His draped body moved but she didn't know what as he leaned against the wall on the other side of the room.

"I don't need help." She spat, her brother always taught her to never show fear.

"Ah, but that's where you are wrong…" She felt a heavy breath waft down her neck. "…I can make you so much stronger with but a simple…_mark_." She laid frozen, staring at the now blank wall and feeling a cold hand stroke her neck…

"An _Uchiha,_ doesn't need help." She whipped around with icy blue eyes as she smacked his hand away, but the Akatsuki evaded her as his face melded into something she couldn't quite discern.

A small frown adorned his face. "You lack… many things."

Kagome couldn't speak, her voice stuck in her throat.

"You crave… vengeance…" His eyes slid over hers as he studied every inch of her. "But, you do not pursue it nor to do have a lust for power." He seemed to be talking to himself. "Tell me Kagome-chan…has your Kekkei Genkai activated yet?" His tone became lighter, as if his fixation with her was about to end.

Kagome fidgeted, she was only four, her Sharingan hadn't even come close to activating yet. "…no." She mumbled weakly, it was possible that hers may never activate, her mother's hadn't.

"Hm…and your brother had mastered his at the age of eight." His countenance portrayed disappointment as his gaze left her form.

"No he didn't." She corrected suddenly.

"Aa… Itachi did in fact master his, girl." The man clipped with a hiss.

"Itachi isn't my brother." Kagome corrected again but instantly regretted it when the dark haired man's waning fixation reignited.

"Hn, then why would he spare-" His glossy orbs gleamed and his lips twitched into a wicked grin as he chuckled hollowly. "Hm… you're quite valuable after all… Kagome-chan." He twirled a dainty lock of ebony as Kagome stayed frozen. "You are bit…_young_ though."

"What are you talking about?" She hissed as she forced her stiff muscles to move away from this….this…this snake!

"Why did he spare you?" He cocked his head as his thin black hair fell past a sallow face.

"Spare…?" Kagome whispered hoarsely. "Itachi saved me." She amended with an icy stare.

"Then who… _butchered_ your Clan?" His lips were quirked in a sickening smirk as he teased her already fraying nerves.

"The…" She struggled to remember what Itachi had called it… "The…"

"The…what?" He sneered viciously, leaning in with rapacious eyes.

"Kyjuu…Kyo…Kyuubi!" She finally mustered it up.

With that said, the man chuckled deeply at her, mocking her with his spiteful cackle. "Ah…now I see why you are still alive girl." He leaned in further and Kagome felt his presence envelop her, it was like she was choking on something that was so evil and dark that she couldn't breathe… "Only someone so young as you could be so… _impressionable_."

_Impressionable?_ She repeated mentally. "I'm not impressionable!" She snapped, not knowing what the word meant but knowing that she didn't want to be _that_.

"Hm…I'm afraid you are." He mused.

Kagome stayed rigid, her eyes betraying nothing as this snake coiled around her.

The man retracted his bony hand from her neck as his fixation with her receded. "It seems you aren't quite useless after all, Kagome-chan…" She felt a cold finger pinch her plump cheek. "At least… your body isn't."

"I'm not useless." She grounded out. "Itachi-sama needs me…I'm all he has left." Her voice was strong.

"Ah…foolish girl, can you not see what he is doing to you?" He hissed as he retracted his thin hand and her eyes caught a glimpse of a blue ring with the kanji insignia _void _scratched across it.

"What?" She gasped, what was Itachi doing to her?

-

-

-

-

"You're being _groomed_."

XxX

"_Kid…"_

"_Wake up." _

Someone was shaking her, she opened her only to see a black and blue amorphous image blur with red blotched across.

"Nana…chan?" She murmured absently as her eyes rolled back and her lashes fluttered.

Konan gathered the girl into her arms and waited patiently until Kagome became lucid.

"Why are you outside?" Konan demanded.

"I don't…" The small Uchiha looked around, her dazed shimmering eyes flittering about the grassy knolls and moss flanked trees. "…I don't know."

"I've been looking everywhere for you." Konan informed her tersely. "What happened?"

Kagome's eyes glanced up to the sky; it was a dusky carmine with hazy blue smeared across its horizon. She heard a cricket chirp in the distance as the night birds followed in their nocturnal chorus.

Golden eyes flashed into her mind as a cackle erupted maliciously…

_Keep quiet…_

"I don't know."

Konan's brow furrowed, whether the girl was lying or not it didn't matter but there was deceitfulness in her eyes, just fear and Konan really didn't want to get involved with such matters. She stood with the young girl in her arms and as soon as she shifted the small Uchiha in her grasp the girl erupted into a fit of violent coughs.

Kagome heaved until she was pink in the face.

Konan placed a willowy palm on Kagome's clammy forehead and soon discovered the girl was burning up. "Come on…" She hoisted the child into a more secure grip before trotting over the meadow and back into the shrine.

Kagome wheezed. "Nana-chan…?" Her voice completely deflated.

"Hm?"

"When is Itachi-sama coming back?" Why was she trembling?

"Tomorrow…"

She heard a sniff and then a hiccup. "I-I…" Her voice was breaking into muffled blubbers. "…need…him…" She hiccupped again. "…now."

Konan just sighed.

XxX

_It was dark. _

_She stood in a dark drenched room with a window framing a starless sky. _

_It was black-_

_Everything was black. _

_The wood, the sky, the walls, the air, the body…_

_She toddled over to the motionless form, her eyes straining to see the face. _

'_Aniki…' She whispered anxiously. _

_A thin light suddenly stretched from the window, the moon having appeared suddenly. It's pale stream reaching across the wood and half illuminating her brother's placid face._

_He was smiling a soft contented smile, one he only privileged her to witness. _

_Kagome sprung onto him with such force and joy, she yipped with elation. _

_But Shisui didn't move. _

_She shook him and still his body lay limp in her tight grasp. _

_She stood-_

_Only to stumble forth. _

_Her hands landed on her brother's chest and her knees collided with his ribs. _

_Her hands were wet…_

_She looked down-_

_Only to see her hands embedded into her brother's chest cavity and her knees rubbing up against bright white ribs-_

_Kagome slowly lifted a hand out with eyes streaming and choke__d sobs. _

_Her small limb was glistening in the cold scarlet that pooled sickeningly slow onto her knees. Her brother's face, now fully illuminated in the light of the moon, was tinged with a sickly yellow as his cheek bone protruded from black encrusted and torn flesh. His smile was easily shown from lack of cheek and exposed molars, giving her widening eyes a view of the red blotched jaw bone and exposed bulging eye._

_She muttered something so incomprehensible not even she could discern… _

_She lifted the other arm and felt as lumps of cold dead meat slid against her hand and shards of broken rib scratched her palm. _

_It too, was glistening in the moonlight in the most brilliant vermillion. _

_The sounds were a slow squish as everything recompressed. _

_The stream of ghostly torturing moonlight broadened as her tears brimmed and revealed how truly mutilated her brother's body was._

_Slit from neck down, with greening skin flayed, the body was unevenly quartered; with tendrils of organ strewn across the gaps and cold dried blood plastering itself onto every surface. Bright white stuck out unnaturally with bright red clumps clinging desperately onto the bone and crusting. _

_It was then the stench hit her. _

_It was a dank smell that splashed itself in her throat and made her gag from the moldy sweet. _

_A rumble shook the room, jostling the corpse and Kagome along with it so she could hear the squishing of guts, the cracking of dried blood and splintering of dead bone. _

_She whipped around, her arms covered to the elbows with her brother's blood. _

_Eyes…_

_Red eyes…_

_Locked onto her as a deep growl came forth. _

_The creature stayed in the shadows. Slinking about as it snarled threateningly at her. _

_She made a move to back away-_

_Only to have to the creature, who's body was indecipherable leap at her with blood red eyes burning into her and limbs savagely straining to reach out. _

_Kagome fell back with a hard thud. _

_The creature clawed viciously at air. _

_She watched its eyes…_

_It reminded her so much of the Sharingan…_

_She screamed-_

_As it impaled her shoulder and bit into her collarbone, the snap made her ears ring and searing white pain make her mind irrational._

_It was so unreal-_

_The pain was enough to kill her at that moment. _

_She flailed._

_The creature ripped at her neck and burrowed into her chest…digging into her body without mercy as meat flew and blood flecked her cheeks…_

_She should be dead…_

_But she wasn't…_

_She screamed but she heard nothing. _

_She felt her heart throb erratically as claws coiled around it and snap each tie it had with her body…she felt the creature tear her limbs…it was a relief until the bone snapped…_

_And so she screamed silently, begging her brother for it to end… _

_All the while, her rotting brother smiled with split flesh and crimson peppering his dimpled cheeks as sister was butchered…_

_Kagome screamed… feeling as her throat gurgled and snap-_

She saw white.

She opened her eyes to see black-

And blood red eyes burning into her.

This time, she could hear her screams.

"_**Get off me!"**_She screeched madly, clawing savagely at anything exposed until her nails were sticky with a bitter tangy smell.

"Kagome."

She stilled instantly.

"…I-Itachi-sama?" She gasped as tears glistened her wide eyes and she threw herself onto him; her hands frantically moving over his chest, checking for any injuries…

There was none…

She choked on air and blubbered something incomprehensible as her whole body slacked into his warm living embrace.

It was then she tensed, her body becoming a small rock and he felt a tiny fist impale his chest.

"_You promised!_" She sobbed into his shirt as she hit over and over, each strike getting weaker and weaker. "_You… promisedpromisedpromised-"_

Itachi just sat there. "Why were you screaming?" His voice warm and soft, just as it should be.

Kagome pitifully hit him again and then pushed away but Itachi held the small girl in place until she stilled from exhaustion.

Long silent moments passed in the dark.

"…I don't… know…" She forced out as if it would make her throat bleed to talk.

"You're lying." His voice resonated sharply.

"…I… don't…" Her head bobbed.

Itachi felt a fever on her as the child was practically baking from her illness.

"…care." Her eyes opened slightly, shimmering slits of blue fluttered as thick lashes kissed her cheeks.

"What-"

"Shh..." She suddenly cooed. "I don't want...to talk about it."

And he left it at that.

"Okaa-san used to sing to me when I had a bad dream…" She said suddenly, she was delirious. "…and I used to sing to Aniki…"

Itachi said nothing.

"Can I sing to you?" She took his hand in her small fingers.

Itachi blinked. "…alright."

A few moments passed as Kagome huddled against Itachi before she piped out a whispering song. _"…__sono te wo watashi he to…"_ She traced the long curve in his palm. _"…azukete me wo tojite…" _

It seemed he wasn't the only one that was haunted.

"…_mabuta ni kuchizukete…" _

To be so young and yet have such terrible things plague you…Her future was so unstable now…

"…_Itami wo iyashimashou…" _She yawned slightly.

But it didn't matter, for she was his present, his here and now, and there would be no future for them.

"…_ne-nemuri…nasai yukkari to…" _Her voice drifted as her eyes fluttered.

Because a dead man didn't need to worry about such trivial things…

But she didn't need to know that.

Kagome smiled as the tomoe in his vermillion orbs swirled and put her into a blissful illusion…

XxX

Kagome awoke peacefully and slowly as she stretched about the futon.

Fixing her obi, Kagome sat up with drooping eyes to see Itachi sitting on the futon with head down, back against the wall and obscured eyes closed. She rubbed her eyes and crawled over to him, lifting his arm around her shoulder and snuggling into his chest.

His eyes remained closed but Kagome knew he was awake. She wrapped her petite limbs around his ribs and waited…

Right before she dosed off again, she felt a calloused thumb rub her cheek.

She glanced up to her cousin…

His lips slightly parted as his gaze half lidded and distant.

"Itachi-sama?" She asked suddenly. "Why are we here?"

He sighed heavily and didn't respond for a long moment as his eyes drifted away from her. "Akatsuki… wants to extract Bijuu."

"Extract?"

He nodded with closed his eyes. "They are going to take away the Bijuu… so that they never harm anyone again."

She fell silent at this.

"I have been assigned the Kyuubi."

She tensed.

"Are you not happy?"

Kagome closed her eyes and simply nuzzled her nose into his warm shirt. "…just don't leave."

He opened his eyes as he stared blankly at the wall, his eyes narrowing as the minute cracks blurred.

"Itachi-sama?" He felt her shift and he knew she was looking up at him. "What does…impress... impressionable mean?"

He looked down at her with furrowed brows. "Who called you that?" He replied smoothly.

"…no one."

"What else did they say?" He interrogated fluidly.

"…that…I am… being groomed?" She obviously didn't know what that meant either.

Itachi fell silent, oh how troubling the truth was.

"_Void _also said how you killed the Clan...just like how Konoha thinks." She sneered.

"Void?" He repeated lowly.

"Yeah that's what his ring said…"

"Do you believe him?" Itachi asked blithely.

"Of course not." She gasped as another set of coughs erupted from her scorching throat.

Itachi nimbly tucked the sick child under the thin covers of the futon as her coughs subsided and a damp cloth was placed over her forehead.

Kagome fell back into an unconscious daze as Itachi loomed over her.

His hand outstretched, his fingers curling around the cloak and pulling over his shoulders in one quick fluid motion.

…J_ust don't leave…_

She wouldn't be needing a memento anymore, for he wasn't going to leave her…

…yet.

Scarlet eyes drifted over onto Kagome's slender neck, a slight discoloration marred her pallid flesh. An inky blue wafted across her delicate skin.

Itachi walked out of the room, his destination clear.

It seemed someone was going to lose an arm today.

* * *

_Entrust your hand to me  
and close your eyes_

_Let me kiss your eyelids  
and I will heal your pain  
Sleep, please, be at ease..._

* * *

**Author's Note:** And that's how Orochimaru defected from Akatsuki! Those of you who have read the manga/watched the anime episode know what I speak of :D Okay...yeah...hehe creepy I know and vague when concerning on whatever the heck Oro-kun did to Kaggy! Oh and MOAP is steadily progressing! 20 pages people! Go review if you haven't! ~KK

**Thank You** (to the _**super** amazing_ people that brighten my day with their kind words on _all _my stories): kb, AnaNANAs, Hinata of the Red Spring, Nana, NiminariAmriath, demon prince-sesshoumaru, Passionate Crow Rat, Kaiwren522, hotshorty, Lovelywitch, namiidragon, kazukarin, librianangel, ChocolateBunnyChan, Aashni, Serenity digo19, aislin94, Passing-Glance, merlyn1382, Fyfy, Shiroi no Yume, LuLuCrazeD, Midnight Killer02, bluudyrabbitofportland, Azera-v, JessicaAnnCowley and eloquent dreams.

---Oh and any suggestions/opinions/input on Kagome's powers in the future would be lovely as well, if you have a lot of say in it...I might just reply back and give kudos in an A/N if used...so watch out. (^.~)


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